SKY METALWALA - 2 yo/Male - Bellevue/ Spokane WA

Missing Toddler's Father Gives In-Depth Interview on KIRO Radio

Solomon Metalwala of Kirkland speaks about the investigation, the
contentious divorce with his ex-wife Julia Biryukova and a previous
incident of leaving their son, Sky Metalwala, in the car.


Photos (9)









The father of missing toddler, Sky Metalwala, Solomon Metalwala spoke to hosts Ron & Don of 97.3 KIRO FM radio Monday.
Sky Metalwala, 2, has been missing since Nov. 6, after his mother,
Julia Biryukova, 30, told police she left him in her brother's Acura
Integra parked alongside the road in the 2600 block of 112th Avenue Northeast.

Listen to the 97.3 KIRO FM with Solomon Metalwala interview here.

The hosts of the show asked Metalwala about a previous incident when
the police were called after he and his then-wife left their son in the
car while they were shopping at a Redmond store.
Metalwala said that the parenting classes that he took as part of the
plea deal in the previous incident were "beautiful," but that he and
Biryukova did not end up taking the classes together.
Metalwala and his attorney, Clay Terry, told the hosts that he hopes
that Metalwala will be reunited with his four-year-old daughter, who is
currently in foster care, by Christmas.
Biryukova reported their two-year-old son Sky missing Nov. 6. She said she left their home in the Veloce Apartments in downtown Redmond that morning, and she was taking him to Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue because he was sick. She told detectives
that the Acura Integra she was driving ran out of gas in the 2400
block of 112th Ave. N.E. in Bellevue near the junction of State Route 520 and Interstate 405.
Biryukova told police she left the sleeping toddler in the car
while she and her four-year-old daughter walked about a mile to get
gas. When they and a friend returned to the car, the toddler was gone.

Over the weekend, police searched the Kirkland's Watershed Park, though Monday, police told reporters that items found and investigated there were of no significance.

Bellevue police have said that investigators have not been able to verify Biryukova's story, including the car trouble that she reported. Furthermore, police say that Sky Metalwala had not been reported seen by anyone but his mother in the two weeks leading up to Nov. 6.

Over the weekend, ABC News' Neal Karlinsky reported receiving
messages from an email address belonging Biryukova says that Metalwala
knows something about the child's disappearance.

"My former husband is a sadistic Muslim Pakistani," the emails stated, according to Karlinsky.

"I’m praying on my hands and knees every day for my Sky," she wrote,
in repsonse to Karlinsky asking her via email what would help bring Sky home.

For the record, Solomon Metalwala, who has submitted to Bellevue
Police department lie detector tests and has organized searches for his son, is a Christian.

Bellevue police released new photos Friday that investigators say more accurately reflect what Sky and Biryukova look like.

The hosts of the Ron & Don show observed that in the surveillance
photos released Friday, Biryukova looks older and more "haggard" than
the smiling, vibrant mom pictured in earlier photos released by police
and pictured in dating sites.

The hosts asked Metalwala which picture of Biryukova was accurate.

“She has lots of faces. I’ve seen both those faces,” Metalwala
responded. “I would say that this (recently released photo) would be a current picture of her.”

http://kirkland.patch.com/articles/missing-toddler-s-father-solomon-metalwala-gives-in-depth-interview-on-kiro-radio-0266672a

Police search Watershed Park in Kirkland over weekend in missing boy case, GMA claims correspondence with mother

By MATT PHELPS
Kirkland Reporter Staff Writer
November 21, 2011 · 10:35 AM

New information from the public has led Bellevue police to expand the search for 2-year-old Sky Metalwala.

On Saturday, Kirkland Police closed Watershed Park so investigators could search the grounds.

"There is no new releasable information at this time," said Bellevue Police Department spokesperson Carla Iafrate in an email. "Nothing significant to this case came from the Watershed Park (search)."

Police say they are still trying to pin down the sequence of events that led to Sky Metalwala's disappearance.

Julia Biryukova, Sky's mother, told police her car ran out of gas on the morning of Nov. 6, as she was attempting to take the boy to the hospital. She left the car at the 2400 block of 112th Avenue Northeast with Sky still in the car. When she returned to the car approximately an hour later, he was gone.

Good Morning America is claiming that they have exchanged emails with Biryukova. But there is no way to know if the respondent is Biryukova, a family member or if the email address was hacked.

"ABC shared those emails with police, which were passed onto detectives to determine if there are any investigative value to them," said Iafrate. "(It is) unknown if emails are actually from Julia."

Biryukova has not spoken publicly or to police since the night her son went missing.

Bellevue police released new photos of Sky Metalwala and Biryukova on Friday in an attempt to gain more information from the public.
http://www.kirklandreporter.com/news/134253128.html

‘Exchange from hell’: Window into dysfunction of Sky Metalwala’s family


BELLEVUE, Washington (Isabelle Zehnder reporting) -- A tape recording of a conversation between missing Bellevue toddler Sky Metalwala’s parents and sister, transcribed Friday, opens a window into the dysfunction of this family.

Sky’s mother, 30-year-old Julia Biryukova, posted the recording on her blog that is accessible to the general public. The recording entitled “10-28-2010 Thursday Evening Exchange from Hell” lasted over 20 minutes. The recording was provided by Statement Analyst Peter Hyatt.

During most of those 20 minutes Sky’s then three-and-a-half year old sister, Maile, could be heard crying, sobbing, then screaming as her father attempted to take her from her mother.

Julia told her husband, Solomon Metalwala, she felt the seven months he kept their daughter from her caused the child's emotional distress. Julia also talked about Maile seeing Solomon hitting her and how negatively that had affected her. She also talks about a man named Armand who she claims hurt Maile.


Continue reading on Examiner.com ‘Exchange from hell’: Window into dysfunction of Sky Metalwala’s family - National missing persons | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/missing-persons-in-national/exchange-from-hell-window-into-dysfunction-of-sky-metalwala-s-family#ixzz1f4NyBy2v

Sky Metalwala Update — Was He Ever in the Car?
November 28, 2011 08:50 PM EST
Sky Metalwala vanished not long after missing baby Lisa Irwin over 1,000 miles away. Like the case of the missing girl out of Missouri, the case of the missing Bellevue boy is suspicious and mysterious with a lot of speculation. In fact, police are speculating that the boy may not have even been in the vehicle the day his mother reported him missing.

It's common knowledge by now, the details given by Julie Buryikova. She claims her 2-year-old son, Sky Metalwala, was abducted from her broken-down vehicle. She claims to have left him after the car ran out of gas. She walked over a mile away with her 4-year-old daughter, leaving the boy behind. These details have been replayed over and over in the media and between investigators as well. This has led to the speculation that the boy may not have even been in the car as Julie Buryikova claimed.

With all of the details in her story seeming shaky at best, it probably isn't out of the realm of possible to consider that baby Sky wasn't in the car, or abducted. The car wasn't broken down, nor was it out of gas. Detectives say it started right up, and ran well. There was also no gas can present.

Was Sky Metalwala really abducted?

Solomon Metalwala, the boy's father, doesn't seem to think he was abducted.

"this is some kind of game she's playing," he said about the missing child's mother, and his estranged wife.

Could it be possible that Sky's mother has him hidden somewhere safely, so his father can't get custody of him? It's known that the two are in the middle of a bitter custody battle after their divorce. Hopefully this is the case and the child hasn't fallen victim to displaced anger or something else violent. Hopefully Sky Metalwala is found soon, in safe and unharmed condition.

In the most recent update of this missing child case, America's Most Wanted will be featuring the boy's story in an upcoming segment. Hopefully this long-running and successful crime program will help attract some new leads to the case.

http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474980830383

(OP comment...this is a very long two part article...very sad and scary)

Part ONE:

Investigators still haven't ruled out missing toddler's parents, who struggled with heated past | Part 1

By MATT PHELPS
Kirkland Reporter Staff Writer
November 23, 2011 · 3:39 PM

The case of missing 2-year-old Sky Metalwala has baffled authorities for weeks.

Investigators have not ruled out any possible theories as to what happened to the boy, despite over 1,000 tips from the public and expanding the search.

Julia Biryukova, the boy’s mother, has told police that she left the boy in the car after it ran out of gas in Bellevue on Nov. 6. She claims to have walked with her daughter to get help and when she returned the boy was gone.

As the investigation into Sky’s whereabouts has largely focused on the parents, the Reporter took a closer look at the couple’s contentious past.

This is the first of a two-part series that examines the parents' contentious marriage and allegations against each other
MARITAL CONFLICT

Domestic violence has allegedly followed Biryukova, who was born in Russia and became a U.S. citizen in 1999.

She described in court documents daily beatings from her parents during much of her childhood. She felt like she could not do anything right, as she was also taken for a variation of electroconvulsive shock treatment in Russia for punitive reasons, according to court records.

Biryukova describes being “controlled” by Solomon as well.

Hundreds of King County Court documents illustrate Biryukova and Solomon's financial and marital struggles.

The couple met in 1997 when Biryukova, 15, a Bellevue High School sophomore, was invited to a party by Solomon, 21. The couple’s romantic relationship began shortly after and they separated in March of 2010.

She told Stephen J. Cummings, a licensed clinical psychologist in Seattle, that soon after she met Solomon, she learned he was “very controlling, declared himself to be a Christ-like figure who had great persuasive skills due to his charisma. An emotional abuse pattern insidiously set in whereby Julia gradually became dependent upon Solomon for her very identity and self esteem," the court documents continue.

A Kirkland police report showed a possible beginning to conflict as early as 1999.

Officers were called to a gas station in response to a couple arguing loudly. The report states that the boyfriend and girlfriend were arguing about where to go that night, but the name of the man claiming to be Biryukova’s boyfriend is Solomon’s brother, Sulaiman.

But Biryukova states in court documents that she has been with only Solomon since 1997.

Biryukova began working at Solomon’s family business, Kings Street Kafe in Pioneer Square. By the time she graduated from high school, they purchased a $265,000 Bellevue condo and moved in together.

At first, the couple was passionate about running their business. They enjoyed yoga, kickboxing, jogging at the Bellevue Park, movies, cooking, spending time with friends and each other, according to court documents.

But the nature of the relationship changed in 2003, as the couple was seemingly forced to get married.

Testimony in court documents states the couple married on Feb. 10 2003 in Solomon’s mother’s kitchen after Biryukova was approached with an ultimatum - marry Solomon or never see him again after his deportation to Pakistan.

It is unclear why Solomon faced deportation.

Biryukova states in court documents that she hid her reason for marrying Solomon from her parents until 2010.

The couple’s financial woes, which contributed to their separation, began in 2005-2006 “as a competitor with a deli moved in next door to us, causing real economic loss from our anticipated and previously received income average. Subsequently, with the economic downturn, business became even slower,” Solomon testified.

But that did not stop the couple from purchasing an $860,000 home in Kirkland in 2008, along with the mortgage payments for the Bellevue condo.

Biryukova has also apparently called into question her ex-husband's involvement in their son's disappearance.

On Monday, ABC’s Good Morning America (GMA) claimed to have corresponded with someone using Biryukova’s email. It has not been confirmed that the email response to GMA was from Biryukova, a family member or if the email was hacked.

But the respondent directly accuses her ex-husband, Solomon Metalwala, of being involved in the boy’s disappearance.“My former husband is a sadistic Muslim Pakistani,” the respondent wrote to GMA’s Neil Karlinksky. “No one has any idea. This is all too difficult.”

However, this response contradicts the couple’s past, as seen through court documents.

Solomon’s conversion to Christianity is a point of conflict in the deterioration of their marriage, according to court documents.

Biryukova claims that Solomon became a born-again Christian in 2005 and that she felt his family resented her for his conversion, the documents continue.

Parishioners at City Church in Kirkland, where the couple began attending in 2005, did not question his faith.

“They have been members of the church,” said Troy Anderson, associate pastor and general counsel. “And some of our members have reached out to them.”

The City Church community held a special prayer on Nov. 9 for the missing 2-year-old Redmond boy.Anderson said the couple’s kids attended sunday school at the church.

The couple also attended divorce-care meetings at the church, according to court documents.

A member of City Church also played a big part in attempting to mediate conflict between the couple and transferring the children from one party to the other during a bitter custody fight. That fight included allegations against each other that Biryukova suffered from psychiatric issues and that Solomon was abusive.

The final story in this two-part series will examine those allegations against each other.


Editor Carrie Wood contributed to this report.
MARITAL CONFLICT

Domestic violence has allegedly followed Biryukova, who was born in Russia and became a U.S. citizen in 1999.

She described in court documents daily beatings from her parents during much of her childhood. She felt like she could not do anything right, as she was also taken for a variation of electroconvulsive shock treatment in Russia for punitive reasons, according to court records.

Biryukova describes being “controlled” by Solomon as well.

Hundreds of King County Court documents illustrate Biryukova and Solomon's financial and marital struggles.

The couple met in 1997 when Biryukova, 15, a Bellevue High School sophomore, was invited to a party by Solomon, 21. The couple’s romantic relationship began shortly after and they separated in March of 2010.

She told Stephen J. Cummings, a licensed clinical psychologist in Seattle, that soon after she met Solomon, she learned he was “very controlling, declared himself to be a Christ-like figure who had great persuasive skills due to his charisma. An emotional abuse pattern insidiously set in whereby Julia gradually became dependent upon Solomon for her very identity and self esteem," the court documents continue.

A Kirkland police report showed a possible beginning to conflict as early as 1999.

Officers were called to a gas station in response to a couple arguing loudly. The report states that the boyfriend and girlfriend were arguing about where to go that night, but the name of the man claiming to be Biryukova’s boyfriend is Solomon’s brother, Sulaiman.

But Biryukova states in court documents that she has been with only Solomon since 1997.

Biryukova began working at Solomon’s family business, Kings Street Kafe in Pioneer Square. By the time she graduated from high school, they purchased a $265,000 Bellevue condo and moved in together.

At first, the couple was passionate about running their business. They enjoyed yoga, kickboxing, jogging at the Bellevue Park, movies, cooking, spending time with friends and each other, according to court documents.

But the nature of the relationship changed in 2003, as the couple was seemingly forced to get married.

Testimony in court documents states the couple married on Feb. 10 2003 in Solomon’s mother’s kitchen after Biryukova was approached with an ultimatum - marry Solomon or never see him again after his deportation to Pakistan.

It is unclear why Solomon faced deportation.

Biryukova states in court documents that she hid her reason for marrying Solomon from her parents until 2010.

The couple’s financial woes, which contributed to their separation, began in 2005-2006 “as a competitor with a deli moved in next door to us, causing real economic loss from our anticipated and previously received income average. Subsequently, with the economic downturn, business became even slower,” Solomon testified.

But that did not stop the couple from purchasing an $860,000 home in Kirkland in 2008, along with the mortgage payments for the Bellevue condo.

Biryukova has also apparently called into question her ex-husband's involvement in their son's disappearance.

On Monday, ABC’s Good Morning America (GMA) claimed to have corresponded with someone using Biryukova’s email. It has not been confirmed that the email response to GMA was from Biryukova, a family member or if the email was hacked.

But the respondent directly accuses her ex-husband, Solomon Metalwala, of being involved in the boy’s disappearance.“My former husband is a sadistic Muslim Pakistani,” the respondent wrote to GMA’s Neil Karlinksky. “No one has any idea. This is all too difficult.”

However, this response contradicts the couple’s past, as seen through court documents.

Solomon’s conversion to Christianity is a point of conflict in the deterioration of their marriage, according to court documents.

Biryukova claims that Solomon became a born-again Christian in 2005 and that she felt his family resented her for his conversion, the documents continue.

Parishioners at City Church in Kirkland, where the couple began attending in 2005, did not question his faith.

“They have been members of the church,” said Troy Anderson, associate pastor and general counsel. “And some of our members have reached out to them.”

The City Church community held a special prayer on Nov. 9 for the missing 2-year-old Redmond boy.Anderson said the couple’s kids attended sunday school at the church.

The couple also attended divorce-care meetings at the church, according to court documents.

A member of City Church also played a big part in attempting to mediate conflict between the couple and transferring the children from one party to the other during a bitter custody fight. That fight included allegations against each other that Biryukova suffered from psychiatric issues and that Solomon was abusive.

The final story in this two-part series will examine those allegations against each other.


Editor Carrie Wood contributed to this report.
MARITAL CONFLICT

Domestic violence has allegedly followed Biryukova, who was born in Russia and became a U.S. citizen in 1999.

She described in court documents daily beatings from her parents during much of her childhood. She felt like she could not do anything right, as she was also taken for a variation of electroconvulsive shock treatment in Russia for punitive reasons, according to court records.

Biryukova describes being “controlled” by Solomon as well.

Hundreds of King County Court documents illustrate Biryukova and Solomon's financial and marital struggles.

The couple met in 1997 when Biryukova, 15, a Bellevue High School sophomore, was invited to a party by Solomon, 21. The couple’s romantic relationship began shortly after and they separated in March of 2010.

She told Stephen J. Cummings, a licensed clinical psychologist in Seattle, that soon after she met Solomon, she learned he was “very controlling, declared himself to be a Christ-like figure who had great persuasive skills due to his charisma. An emotional abuse pattern insidiously set in whereby Julia gradually became dependent upon Solomon for her very identity and self esteem," the court documents continue.

A Kirkland police report showed a possible beginning to conflict as early as 1999.

Officers were called to a gas station in response to a couple arguing loudly. The report states that the boyfriend and girlfriend were arguing about where to go that night, but the name of the man claiming to be Biryukova’s boyfriend is Solomon’s brother, Sulaiman.

But Biryukova states in court documents that she has been with only Solomon since 1997.

Biryukova began working at Solomon’s family business, Kings Street Kafe in Pioneer Square. By the time she graduated from high school, they purchased a $265,000 Bellevue condo and moved in together.

At first, the couple was passionate about running their business. They enjoyed yoga, kickboxing, jogging at the Bellevue Park, movies, cooking, spending time with friends and each other, according to court documents.

But the nature of the relationship changed in 2003, as the couple was seemingly forced to get married.

Testimony in court documents states the couple married on Feb. 10 2003 in Solomon’s mother’s kitchen after Biryukova was approached with an ultimatum - marry Solomon or never see him again after his deportation to Pakistan.

It is unclear why Solomon faced deportation.

Biryukova states in court documents that she hid her reason for marrying Solomon from her parents until 2010.

The couple’s financial woes, which contributed to their separation, began in 2005-2006 “as a competitor with a deli moved in next door to us, causing real economic loss from our anticipated and previously received income average. Subsequently, with the economic downturn, business became even slower,” Solomon testified.

But that did not stop the couple from purchasing an $860,000 home in Kirkland in 2008, along with the mortgage payments for the Bellevue condo.

Biryukova has also apparently called into question her ex-husband's involvement in their son's disappearance.

On Monday, ABC’s Good Morning America (GMA) claimed to have corresponded with someone using Biryukova’s email. It has not been confirmed that the email response to GMA was from Biryukova, a family member or if the email was hacked.

But the respondent directly accuses her ex-husband, Solomon Metalwala, of being involved in the boy’s disappearance.“My former husband is a sadistic Muslim Pakistani,” the respondent wrote to GMA’s Neil Karlinksky. “No one has any idea. This is all too difficult.”

However, this response contradicts the couple’s past, as seen through court documents.

Solomon’s conversion to Christianity is a point of conflict in the deterioration of their marriage, according to court documents.

Biryukova claims that Solomon became a born-again Christian in 2005 and that she felt his family resented her for his conversion, the documents continue.

Parishioners at City Church in Kirkland, where the couple began attending in 2005, did not question his faith.

“They have been members of the church,” said Troy Anderson, associate pastor and general counsel. “And some of our members have reached out to them.”

The City Church community held a special prayer on Nov. 9 for the missing 2-year-old Redmond boy.Anderson said the couple’s kids attended sunday school at the church.

The couple also attended divorce-care meetings at the church, according to court documents.

A member of City Church also played a big part in attempting to mediate conflict between the couple and transferring the children from one party to the other during a bitter custody fight. That fight included allegations against each other that Biryukova suffered from psychiatric issues and that Solomon was abusive.

The final story in this two-part series will examine those allegations against each other.


Editor Carrie Wood contributed to this report.
http://www.redmond-reporter.com/news/134426738.html

PART TWO:

Missing toddler's parents alleged abuse, neglect against each other | Part 2

By MATT PHELPS
Kirkland Reporter Staff Writer
November 28, 2011 · Updated 1:33 PM
Authorities have not ruled out any theories as they continue searching for missing 2-year-old Sky Metalwala.

The investigation has also largely focused on the boy's parents, Julia Biryukova and Solomon Metalwala, who were nearing the end of a bitter divorce and custody battle just weeks before their son disappeared.

This is the second story in a two-part series that examines the neglect and abuse the couple alleged against each other. The first part examined the parent's contentious marital history.

PSYCHIATRIC ISSUES

While living in their Kirkland home, located in the South Rose Hill neighborhood, neighbors said the couple was very friendly.

“Solomon is a very kind man,” former neighbor Nicolas Collins told the Reporter. “Very soft spoken, what you see on TV is how he is.”

He said he would mostly speak with Solomon, who was often outside doing yard work. He also saw Biryukova on occasion taking her daughter for a walk.

“They had a new baby and it was summer so she was not very comfortable,” Collins recalled. “It was a stressful time but you deal with things. They had their moments when they were vocal but I haven’t had neighbors that haven’t had those times.”

But according to Biryukova, the couple’s marriage began to breakdown in 2009 when she learned of their financial issues.

“I learned about the extent of our debt from my husband when we were six months behind on paying our two mortgages, utilities, credit cards and all other bills,” she said in court documents. “This is the time when my husband’s anger and his true character began to show.”

Their Kirkland home was foreclosed in the fall of 2009 and they moved out. They then were forced to move back into the smaller Bellevue condo.

Solomon claimed in court documents that Biryukova had psychological issues, which led to the breakdown of their relationship.

In court records, Solomon said because Biryukova had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and bi-polar in 2009, “living with her was difficult before our separation.”

He described some “unusual things” he did to comply with the demands of her disease, including eating meals with his children outside his home to keep the apartment clean and sleeping on the living room carpet or in his car.

“I am not exaggerating when I state under oath that Julia cared more about cleaning a countertop than she did about feeding our daughter,” said Solomon. “The child was ignored, and it became a matter of great concern.”

After the foreclosure, the couple and their two children moved back to the condo in Bellevue where neighbors complained about issues related to Biryukova’s condition.

The general manager of the Astoria at Meydenbauer Bay Condominium Association, issued the couple a notice on June 29, 2009 stating they were in violation of noise regulations.

The notice stated that other residents were disturbed by vacuuming noise inside the couple’s unit between 11-11:20 p.m. on June 27, 2009. This was their third citation, adding up to $300.

Those around the couple had conflicting views of Biryukova’s condition, including her own psychiatrists.

Her first psychiatrist put Biryukova on anti-depressants during her pregnancy with Sky, despite her objections.

In court documents, Biryukova argued that her psychiatrist had a “history of prescribing powerful psychiatric medications to people who do not require them.”

Biryukova was also committed three times, twice involuntarily, for her mental-health issues.

Solomon stated that: “By March 2010, Julia would not leave the house on time to go anywhere. She was like a prisoner who locked herself into a cell block. She began to have dreams about killing our children, even telling me of her dreams about strangling our youngest child. This became very scary and I knew it was time I had to do something.”

Julia’s own mother, Nadia Biryukova, at one point believed that her daughter had serious issues: “Neither your husband nor I would like for you to live with us at your current conditions … All of us (your children including) are suffering from your abuse," the documents continue.

But her mother would later state that Solomon “little by little, he convinced me that my daughter was sick.”

Other doctors would later disagree with the severity of her psychiatric issues.

Dr. Stephen a. Sholl, a clinical psychologist in Seattle, said in a July 2, 2010 statement: “Although Ms. Biryukova is dealing with a severe form of OCD, I do not believe that this interferes with her ability to be a compassionate, effective parent to her children.”

In court records filed on Sept. 23, 2010, Julia declares: “I do not suffer from severe OCD and I never have.”

A report provided to the court by a separate psychologist with 38 years experience found that Biryukova is “an intense young woman whose only interest is to provide a good life for her two children.”

The issues with Biryukova’s mental state came to a head on March 10, 2010 when the couple officially separated, thanks to an incident involving police.

According to a Bellevue police report, Biryukova made suicidal threats via text message to Solomon. He called police because she was home alone with 6-month-old Sky.

Biryukova wrote: “Please, please I’m begging with my whole heart help me find a peaceful way to die. I cannot live ANOTHER day and cause you, Maile and Sky anymore suffering. I’m dead inside anyway and have been dead for a long time. You will not miss me at all and Maile and Sky have the best daddy in the world so I know they will be okay …”

She admitted to police that she was suicidal, the report continued.

Biryukova later stated at a psychiatric facility that she threatened suicide to get her husband’s attention, the documents state. She was then involuntarily committed at Overlake Hospital and then Navos in West Seattle.

When she was admitted to Navos, she was found to have a Global Assesment of Functioning (GAF) score of 15. When she was released, she had a GAF score of 40.

GAF is a numerical scale from 1-100 used to assess psychological functioning of adults. A 15 meant that she was in danger of hurting herself or others; a 40 meant she has some impairment for daily activities.

Upon her discharge from Navos, her husband and his brother took her to the University of Washington Medical Center, where she was voluntarily admitted.

Solomon filed for divorce in June 2010.

During her stay at the UW, their Bellevue condo foreclosed and Solomon moved into his mother’s Kirkland home with the children.

ABUSE ALLEGATIONS

Biryukova said that along with financial issues she had been the victim of domestic violence on three separate occasions.

Witnesses corroborated her accusations of domestic violence.

“Now, my fear is for my small children. And now Solomon is doing the same thing to our small children that he did to me, physically abuse them and try to control them,” said Biryukova in court documents.

Biryukova also accused Solomon of beating both children with a wooden spoon.

Sue Jewett, a lay pastor at City Church, stopped being the go-between for the couple because it became too difficult, the documents said.

The two women later claimed that they figured out why. After a November 2010 visit, “Sky had a bright red mark on his lower back, hip and upper buttocks,” said Jewett in the documents. “Julia noticed the injury when she put Sky in the bath shortly after he returned from visiting Solomon. A few days later, Maile independently told Julia and I that Solomon got mad at Sky because Sky was crying and he hit him.”

Jewett recorded brief conversations with their daughter, Maile, and also during custody exchanges. On one tape, Maile is heard describing how she, Sky and Julia were hit by Solomon whenever they were “bad” while they resided in their condominium.

“This little girl became so desperate for help during these painful transitions that she began praying to Jesus for relief, to no avail, when her father picked her up. Maile averred that she gets spanked on her buttocks, legs and stomach while her father tells her that he does not love her,” a psychiatrist testified.

Solomon claimed in court documents that the wooden spoon beatings are something from Julia’s past and that she beat the two children.

Overall, Child Protective Services (CPS) visited the family six times from late 2009 to late 2010, according to court documents.

An Aug. 27, 2010 CPS investigation determined that the allegations of abuse and neglect against Biryukova were unfounded.

Biryukova filed several protection orders against her ex-husband, but one stands out more than others.

On Dec. 19 of 2010, Biryukova alleged that Solomon committed sexual abuse against their daughter.

CPS found that the claims were unfounded and no charges were ever filed.

Despite the abuse allegations, Biryukova requested that Solomon be given custody of their daughter during a hearing that followed the disappearance of Sky.

Malie is currently in foster care until a hearing on Dec. 5.

CPS workers on the case also stated in court documents that “Maile was forensically interviewed and was able to provide a consistent and credible statement that the father inflicted the bruises on her back with a wooden spoon.”

The investigator continued, “the father denied hitting the child with a wooden spoon and this was confirmed with a polygraph test, however, when the father was asked if he had caused the bruising on Maile’s back the test was inconclusive.”

Biryukova also claims that Solomon abused her three times before their split.

Biryukova gained full custody of both children in September of 2010.

She posted on her Facebook: “Justice was served today. I am the PRIMARY PARENT for my babies! Hallelujah! My babies are happy and I am HAPPY! Thank you Veronica Freitas (Biryukova’s lawyer)!” on Sept. 22, 2010.

But sole custody only lasted until October before Sky went missing.

Two weeks before the disappearance of Sky, the couple had an 11-hour mediation session for custody of the two children. During the session the two sides agreed to some visitation rights for Solomon, but Biryukova called him later in an attempt to get out of the agreement.

Bellevue Police Major Mike Johnson told reporters that Biryukova acknowledged a history of leaving the children alone for extended periods of time. Court documents also show details of Solomon leaving the children home alone as well.

Police say they know whether the mother left her kids alone during the mediation but will not release that information.

In an attempt to regain sole custody, Biryukova offered to absolve her ex-husband of more than $2,000 in child and spousal support if she could take the children to Scottsdale, Ariz. He declined the offer.

During the investigation to find her son, Biryukova has received criticism for having very few photos of her son in the apartment or on her Facebook page.

Court documents also show a contentious battle over items, such as the couple’s camera, which Metalwala would not relinquish rights to.

Authorities have expressed frustration with Biryukova’s story of how her son went missing and unwillingness to speak to investigators or take a polygraph test.

They said Solomon has been cooperative, but will not release the results of a second polygraph test he took following his son’s disappearance.

http://www.redmond-reporter.com/news/134429073.html

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Group-pushing-for-missing-boys-father-to-be-reunited-with-daughter-134865178.html

SEATTLE -- A national family advocacy group is urging Washington state agencies to reunite the sister of missing boy Sky Metalwala with her father.

Glen Sacks, executive director of Fathers and Families, said there is no reason for the 4-year-old girl to have to stay in foster care.

"Solomon Metalwala has been separated from his daughter for almost a year now based on charges that have been discredited, certainly charges made by his accuser - his ex-wife - who has been completely discredited," he said.

The girl was taken away from her mother, Julia Biryukova, after her 2-year-old brother disappeared last month.

Biryukova said Sky disappeared after she left him alone in an unlocked car while she went to go seek help with her daughter after the car ran out of gas. Investigators later determined the car's gas tank was not empty.

Sacks said if Biryukova can not take care of her daughter, the girl should be handed over to her father, Solomon Metalwala, instead of the state.

"How on Earth could it not be detrimental for a scared little girl to be housed with strangers instead of being with the father she loves and needs? I think any parent can relate to that," said Sacks. "The daughter should've immediately been given to her father."

Solomon Metalwala is scheduled to have a custody hearing next Monday, and Sacks hopes the court will rule in favor of the father.

"We are trying to apply pressure to the relevant agencies there in Washington to reunite this father and his daughter," he said.

Solomon Metalwala has said Biryukova suffers from severe obsessive-compulsive disorder and goes on cleaning binges in which she wouldn't feed the children. But a doctor said her diagnosis didn't interfere with her ability to care for the kids.

The two were amid a bitter divorce and custody battle when Sky disappeared.

The family has a previous record of leaving Sky alone in a car in a store parking lot in Redmond when he was 3-months old. Court records show he was alone for nearly an hour on a 27-degree day in December 2009 before police had the car owner's paged.

Police cited both parents for reckless endangerment. The case was dismissed early this year after the couple completed a year's probation, community service and a 10-week parenting class.

Investigators said they have received hundreds of tips in the boy's disappearance, but no arrests have been made and no suspects have been named.

Where is Sky? 'America's Most Wanted' wants to know

SCOTT SUND, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Copyright 2011 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

snipped;

Sky Metalwala has fallen off the front pages and evening news in the weeks since the 2-year-old from Bellevue disappeared.

But now he is likely to get a fresh boost of publicity. The case is to be featured on the premiere episode of "America's Most Wanted" at 9 p.m. Friday on Lifetime.

John Walsh, the show's host, expressed amazement Thursday over the facts in the case. The boy's mother has said she ran out of gas, then walked to a gas station, leaving Sky alone in the car.

When she returned, the boy was missing, she says.

"Who walks to a gas station to get gas and leaves your 2-year-old alone in the car?" Walsh asked in an interview with Q13 Fox in Seattle.

"The real key to this case ... is the mom."

The mother, Julia Biryukova, has told police that Sky was sleeping when she left him in the unlocked car on Nov. 6. She and her 4-year-0ld daughter went for gas.

They returned an hour later to find Sky gone, she has said.

But investigators later found that there was enough gas in the car to run a considerable distance.



Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Where-is-Sky-America-s-Most-Wanted-wants-to-2338431.php#ixzz1fQ4SXXbH

Sky Metalwala's grandmother breaks silence

SEATTLE -- For 23 days, the Biryukova family has remained almost entirely silent about the disappearance of two-year-old Sky Metalwala.

Nadia, the boy's grandmother, has requested privacy since the search for Sky began on Sunday, Nov. 6. But on Tuesday, she broke her silence in an email to KING 5 reporter Chris Daniels.

“Sky reminds me my own son, who’s always content and happy with everything he has, even if it isn’t much. As long as he isn’t hungry, he’s easygoing, relaxed and laid back boy. Sky has very adaptable and not easy to upset temperament,” she wrote to Daniels, responding to his request for an interview.

“There aren’t any words to describe my heart brokenness associated with missing my dear grandson. I don’t believe that there is a hand capable of hurting my beautiful, precious child. I’ll give everything just to hold him in my arms again! I’ll never be able to talk about him in past tense - I’ll be waiting for his return back to me as long as I'll live! Nadia.”

Bellevue Police have provided few answers about the direction of the investigation. Julia Biryukova, Sky's mother, claimed she parked her car at the side of 112th Avenue NE after she ran out of gas. Sky was left in the back seat, and Julia said when she returned an hour later, he was missing. Detectives later drove the car, and found it was in working order, and had enough fuel.

Volunteers and law enforcement officers have searched numerous locations, detectives have interviewed multiple people, and there have been no arrests.

http://www.nwcn.com/news/134746138.html

National group lobbies to return Sky Metalwala's sister to father

By MATT PHELPS
Kirkland Reporter Staff Writer
December 1, 2011 · 5:34 PM

Most feel the holiday season is a time for families to be together. But a judge will have to make a decision Monday on where 4-year-old Maile Metalwala will spend her Christmas and maybe beyond.

Maile has been caught in the middle of a custody dispute during the past year and is now a victim of her brother's missing-person case.

Maile’s brother, Sky, went missing Nov. 6. The kids’ mother, Julia Biryukova claimed her 2-year-old son was kidnapped after she left him in an unlocked car when her car ran out of gas in Bellevue.

She took her daughter and walked to a gas station to call a family friend. When they returned to the car, Sky was gone.

Maile was immediately put into foster care and a judge ruled on Nov. 10 that she stay in foster care until a dependency hearing this Monday in King County Superior Court.

But a national family court reform organization, Fathers and Families, has launched a campaign, demanding the court return the girl to her father.

The Boston-based organization is urging the public to call the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services and King County Superior Court to give Metalwala sole custody of his daughter.

“Four-year-old Maile was shoved into the foster care system after the mysterious disappearance of her 2-year-old brother Sky,” said National Executive Director for Fathers and Families, Glenn Sacks. “Currently everyone’s focus is on finding Sky, as it should be. Yet it is also important that Maile be reunited with the father she loves and needs as soon as possible.”

According to the organization’s website, Fathers and Families aims to establish equal rights for fathers and mothers after a separation or divorce.

The homepage of the organization’s website has the custody issue as the main topic and urges the public to “tell officials to reunite Solomon Metalwala with his daughter Maile!”

But the group’s role in the custody battle is solely as an outside entity.

“We really want Maile home with her father, and we appreciate the support and prayers of other groups, but as far as Solomon is concerned, he must stay on the administrative track he is on,” said Metalwala’s attorney Clay Terry, pointing out that Metalwala has no part in the protest of outside groups. “... As long as the investigation is fair and balanced, we intend to remain within the guidelines currently provided to us.”

Sacks claims that the DSHS is “being bombarded with calls and letters demanding that they reunite Solomon Metalwala with his daughter,” thanks to the organization’s campaign. Maile has been “unjustly kept for almost a year” from her father, said Sacks.

“Through all the coverage of this highly-publicized case, the fact that this father and daughter have been separated without cause has slipped under the radar,” said Sacks, referring to the case as governmental abuse.

Maile and Sky were a part of a bitter custody battle during the past year, in which both parents alleged abuse and neglect against the other, according to court documents.

“Little Maile has had to go through a great deal for a little girl,” said Terry. “When she was just a baby, younger than Sky’s age, the happy family they had was turned around by the advent of Julia’s OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).”

By the time Maile was 3 years old, Terry said the girl’s mother had been involuntarily committed by the police for mental observation.

“When the mother got out, she went on a form of revenge ride in judicial system to prevent Solomon from seeing the children,” said Terry, noting the abuse allegations Biryukova brought against her estranged husband. “Then, when everything else failed, the mother claimed the child had been physical abused and possibly sexually abused.”

He said the hospital did not find any signs of sexual abuse. In addition, a polygraph and a second-opinion CPS investigation concluded that there was no physical abuse.

“However, the allegations, the teaming up of victim advocates who are supposed to help retrieve victims, and an abundance (actually, overabundance) of caution by the court prevented Solomon from seeing his children for more than 11 months,” said Terry, adding that Biryukova was given temporary custody of the children. “There was a provision to see the children with supervised visitation four hours a day, but it was connected to some very expensive and long-running domestic violence classes, which he could not afford.”

Terry said there was no domestic violence proven or accepted by any authority other than the court commissioner and “the victim’s advocates who hover protectively around anyone who makes such allegations, without the duty to check it out.”

Solomon has had four separate two-hour visits with his daughter since his son disappeared, and is permitted telephone contact with her every day, said Terry.

But some, like Sacks, believe he should have sole custody.

“When a mother and father are divorced or separated, and a child welfare agency removes the children from the mother’s home for abuse or neglect, an offer of placement to the father, barring unfitness, should be automatic,” said Sacks.

Yet, Sacks pointed out, when fathers inform child welfare officials that they would like their children to live with them, the agencies seek to place the children with their fathers in only 15 percent of cases, according to a study by the Urban Institute.

And 20 percent of the fathers whose identity and location were known by the child welfare agencies from the opening of the case are never even contacted, he continued.

Fathers and Families claims that Metalwala is a victim of two common problems. First, Family Law Commissioner Jacqueline Jeske, a former domestic violence prosecutor, approved a restraining order against Metalwala.

This was done despite the fact that Biryukova had previously made false abuse charges, and Child Protective Services had concluded that these new abuse charges were also false, said Sacks.

“Biryukova, having lied to police about the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of her son Sky, is a thoroughly discredited accuser,” said Sacks.

Second, the group claims that DSHS has kept Maile from her father partly because of child welfare agencies’ “institutional anti-father bias.”

Terry said the girl was ordered to remain in foster care because “there was still much information up in the air, including Julia’s old complaints against Solomon …,” he said. “Now, the new hearing will be to sort out some of the statements and concerns, which have been discounted, and begin a transition of the child back to her father. The child still has some matters to go through so that CPS is confident that she is not too traumatized.”

Biryukova has refused to speak with authorities and media, and refused to take a polygraph examination. She also did not attend the dependency hearing on Nov. 10, but requested that Maile be placed with Metalwala, despite her abuse allegations against her estranged husband.

Biryukova’s attorney Robert Flennaugh would not comment on the ongoing investigation.

But Terry said Metalwala is in complete agreement with the court process so far.

“Solomon showed up (to the Nov. 10 hearing) and was very gracious about the disappointing but apparent need to delay permanent custody to him.”

Editor Carrie Wood contributed to this report.

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/news/134849513.html

The
father of a 2-year-old boy who disappeared in Bellevue has been awarded
custody of his older sister, pending the removal of a protection order
in the case.The
girl has been in state foster car since Sky Metalwala went missing Nov.
6. Sky's mother said he vanished when she left him alone in a car to
walk to a gas station.
At the time, Sky's mother, Julia Biryukova, had custody of Sky and his 4-year-old sister. But KING-TV reports (http://bit.ly/vjMFfo ) that Sky's father, Solomon Metalwala, was awarded custody of the girl at a hearing in Kent on Monday.
Metalwala
attended the hearing. Biryukova did not. The couple has been in bitter
divorce and custody proceedings since last year.
The
court commissioner granted Biryukova visitation rights, under strict
guidelines. Metalwala will gain custody once a restraining order that
previously kept him away from the children is vacated.
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Missing-Wash-boy-s-father-gets-custody-of-sister-2345495.php

snipped from above article:

"The court commissioner granted Biryukova visitation rights, under strict guidelines. Metalwala will gain custody once a restraining order that previously kept him away from the children is vacated."

NOTE the words in RED...the d@mn mother will get visitation rights. What? I can't believe they would trust her with the child after her lying story about Sky. That's ridiculous. She'll probably run with the little girl and kill her too.

Posted on December 21, 2011 at 8:19 AM

GRESHAM, Ore. – Volunteers in Gresham are trying to
help in the search for a missing Seattle boy by spreading the word
about his disappearance and posting flyers.

Two-year-old Sky Metalwala has been reported him missing on Nov. 6.

The volunteers have mostly been focusing on freeway routes stretching
from Seattle, south to Portland and Gresham and then on to the Canadian border.

"I do this because I'm a mom. And if it was my kids, I'd hope
someone would do the same thing for me. I've done it for a couple other
missing kids as well and it's kind of struck a place in my heart I
can't get away from now," said Gresham volunteer Amy Walcott.

The boy’s mother told police that she left him alone in a car in Bellevue when she ran out of gas and had to go and get help.

She said when she returned to the car, he was gone.

Sky’s father said he believes his estranged wife knows what exactly what happened to the boy and has lied to police.

As for the flyers, the volunteers said they were trying to target the
busy holiday travel season in their effort to spread the word about the missing boy.
http://www.kgw.com/news/local/Gresham-volunteers-help-search-for-missing-boy-136000368.html

December 26, 2011 7:48 AM EST

Investigations into the disappearance of Sky Metalwala, 2,
have uncovered photographs of the boy with bruises on his body, along
with a suicide note written by his mother, Julia Biryukova, and sent to
his father, Solomon Metalwala, as a text message in March 2010.

• 
  
  

(Photo: Facebook.com)
Sky Metalwala

According to Biryukova, the child was reported missing on Nov. 6.
However, it now appears the last time Sky was actually seen was by a
neighbor, outside Biryukova's Redwood apartment, in October... some
three weeks before the missing person report was filed, said Seattlepi.com.

Meanwhile, stories of Biryukova not cooperating with the police continue to fly around.

"It seems like she's kind of on lockdown. She's not talking to
anybody," said John Davis, an acquaintance of Biryukova's from church.

The bruises on Sky were initially blamed on Metalwala. However, he was cleared of any charges in that matter.

"Well, he passed the polygraph exams, he passed the CPS
investigations, and the hospital check-ups proved that there was no
abuse. Everything was a lie," said Metalwala's lawyer, Clay Terry.

Sky's father was recently handed sole custody of his 4-year-old
daughter and is now fighting to strip Biryukova of visitation rights.

"We are objecting not because we don't want Julia to see the child,
but because the child is a witness in what potentially could be a very
tragic case," Terry explained.

According to Biryukova, she was taking Sky to the hospital on the
morning of Nov. 6. She said her car ran out of fuel and she left Sky in
the rear and walked to a gas station, taking his sister with her. She
alleges that Sky was missing when she returned.

This latest report could be one more reason to be suspicious of Biryukova's involvement in Sky's disappearance.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/272698/20111226/sky-metalwala-missing-new-details-emerge.htm

24th December,2011
New Shocking details in the Sky Metalwala disappearance reveal
bruises and other signs of abuse on the children, as well as a suicide
note written by Julie Biryukova. Could these details lend a hand in
finding out what happened to the missing child?

The
latest new developments in the search for missing baby Sky Metalwala
reveal far more than what's been released since the boy vanished on
November 6, 2011. In fact, the latest details kind of make Julie
Biryukova look even more suspicious. Honestly, if this woman doesn't get
any more suspicious, she may end up being labeled the next "Tot Mom"
and Casey Anthony will have to step aside.
You
see, some new investigative reports have been released and submitted to
the media and these reports contain disturbing photographs that aren't
released for public view. Allegedly, the photos depict baby Sky with
bruises and signs of child abuse. A man named John Davis, who attends
church with Julie Biryukova, is named in the reports several times. The
man says the following:
"It seems like she's kind of on lockdown. She's not talking to anybody."
While
Julie blames Solomon Metalwala for the bruises pictured on the missing
boy's body, the father's lawyer says that he passed polygraph tests and
was cleared of those accusations. So who put those bruises on baby Sky?
Solomon
Metalwala now has custody of his daughter, four year old Maile. Julie
is fighting to get visitation rights of her daughter, but Solomon and
his lawyer are fighting this -- and for good reason.
Sky Metalwala and other missing children
Missing
baby Sky was technically last seen at least two weeks prior to "being
left alone in the car" by his mother. So it's unknown as to whether or
not the boy went missing then, or sooner. It seems that the presence of
bruises and other abuse allegations are becoming common in missing
children's cases. For instance , the disappearance of 20-month old Ayla
Reynolds is taking Maine, and the nation, by shock. The mother of
missing baby Ayla Reynolds says that while in her father's care, the
child would display bruising on her thighs that couldn't be explained.
So is this a sign of abuse? It should also be pointed out that the baby
has a broken arm. There is also missing baby Lisa Irwin, who isn't
reported to have been abused, but the fact that the child's mother is a
drunk may have something to do with why she is missing.
With Sky
Metalwala being pictured with bruises, this doesn't bode well for the
investigation. From day one, Julie Biryukova has been a target of
suspicion and she has not been cooperative with investigators. Perhaps
Sky was a victim of something a little worse than a neglectful parent
who left him to be abducted.
http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474980949716
Posters note: This article isn't new, but I posted it because the photo of Sky in the car seat(with what looks like a black eye) is so eerily like one of Caylee. And the mother's inconsistent stories about what happened to Sky is the same too. LE should be looking for a rubbish bag somewhere in bush nearby IMO!

New leads in the case of a missing Seattle toddler suggest he may have been gone long before his mother informed anyone, his father said Thursday.

Sky Metalwala was reported missing in November by his mother, Julia Birakova, who said the child was taken from her car, which was parked by the side of the road. However, Sky's father, Solomon Metalwala, said he suspects the boy may have been missing since April.

Metalwala checked medical records, spoke with members of the Eastside medical community and found only one person -- a neighbor -- who had seen the child in April, seven months before he was reported missing.

"I believe anything is possible," he told KOMO-TV, Seattle. "We have no clue what is going on. Right now anything is possible."

Metalwala said Birakova's father visited form Ukraine in April, and he now suspects that he took the child back to the Ukraine with him. Metalwala also recalls Birakova asking to take the children to the Ukraine in an e-mail.

Birakova and Metalwala have been in a lengthy, bitter custody dispute for several months, which kept Metalwala from seeing his children for nearly a year.


Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/01/05/Tot-may-have-gone-missing-sooner/UPI-77901325795133/#ixzz1igt0b2Vr

Many theories have been floated on the whereabouts of 2-year-old Sky Metalwala.

The boy allegedly went missing just over two months ago
while in the custody of his mother, Redmond resident Julia Biryukova.
She, and Sky's father Solomon, had been in the midst of a bitter divorce and custody battle for their two children.

But Solomon Metalwala, of Kirkland, and his attorney Clay Terry are
speaking out with their own theories as to where the boy may be and are
taking action.

One of the ways they are moving forward is to request that Solomon be
granted sole custody of his daughter Maile, with no visitation by
Biryukova.

Solomon was granted custody of his daughter on Dec. 5. Maile, 5, was placed in foster care after her brother went missing.

"When Maile was picked up by the police, she looked gaunt and weighed only 29 pounds," Terry told the Reporter. "She went to a foster home with really nice people … She went from listless to active, and now she is doing great."

Terry claims that Maile gained more than seven pounds in six weeks with the foster family.

Solomon was back in court Friday to ask the judge to withhold
visitation for Biryukova due to the nature of the missing person's case.

"There are only two witnesses here. One of them is the person in
position of authority, which is the mother, and the other is a minor
child," said Terry, on Friday, arguing that any time that Maile spends
with Biryukova could jeopardize the investigation.

Solomon and Terry are working to figure out if the boy could be with a friend or family member of Biryukova.

But they are having a hard time getting solid evidence of where the boy was during May through October of 2011.

"We need answers," said Terry. "We are not saying Sky was definitely
not here after April, but we want to know when Sky was no longer here."

Solomon would not say if he has talked to Maile about the disappearance of Sky or if any new information has been found.

“I don’t want to put another burden on her to tell me where is Sky,”
Solomon said. “This burden that she has needs to release from her…”

Biryukova has decided not to take advantage of her visitation rights but wants to retain the option.

“She desperately wants to see her child," Biryukova's attorney Rob
Wyman told the judge. "… her decision not to visit at the moment is
purely out of wanting things to go right.”

No decision was made on the matter and another hearing is scheduled for Jan. 20.

Biryukova told police her car ran out of gas the morning of the
disappearance, as she attempted to take the boy to the hospital. She
left Sky in the unlocked car at the 2400 block of 112th Avenue Northeast
while she walked with Maile to get help.

When she returned to the car, approximately an hour later, he was gone.

Police later tested the car and found that it had gas and there were no mechanical issues.

Terry was blunt in calling her story a lie.

"We are talking about a life of a 2-year-old child, whose mother is
so vindictive and hateful, probably due to mental illness to some
degree, that she is obsessed with the thought that she must prevent
Solomon from (having) their children," Terry told the Reporter.
"She is not intelligent, and she definitely does not have what many
would consider a creative side … I am not saying that to be mean, but we
are in the trenches trying to come up with a way to circumvent Julia’s
silence while her baby is missing."

Terry and Solomon are holding out hope that the boy may be with a friend or family member of Biryukova.

One of their reasons for this is that other than one neighbor telling
police that she saw the boy two weeks before his disappearance, they
have found no evidence Sky was in his mother's care since April when her
father visited from the Ukraine.

"Julia did a bit of a shuffle on all of us …," said Terry. "I
suspected something, but because we were so wrapped up in the story that
Sky just recently disappeared, we were all looking to the left, and we
were not looking to the right."

When Solomon was granted custody of Maile he attempted to obtain her
medical records from the year that he did not see his daughter. The
doctor had not seen the two children in a year.

"Armed with this alarming information, just before Christmas, we
contacted the children’s health insurance carrier, who told us that
there had been no medical claims for payments made for either child in
2011," said Terry. "Now that was the shocker."

He and Solomon began sending letters out to Eastside doctors asking
them to contact the Bellevue Police if they treated either child during
the last year.

"We do not expect any positive replies, but we have to try since it is an open door," said Terry.

Terry said that other than the one neighbor's statement to police, no one has seen Sky since last May.

"The only person who certainly should have seen Sky was Julia’s brother, Stan, but he has said nothing to us," said Terry.

Stan Biryukova has not responded to the Reporter's requests for an interview.

"Some people think that (Biryukova's father) from the Ukraine took
the child back with him at the end of April," said Terry. "I tend not to
believe that, because there are too many hoops to get through to get a
child on a plane without all kinds of documents signed by parents."

Terry said that they do have evidence that Sky was in his mother's custody in April of 2011.

"It is possible to say that this case may have been cold before it was hot," said Terry.
http://www.kirklandreporter.com/news/136975233.html

When was Sky Metalwala last seen, and by whom?

That's what the father of the missing 2-year-old boy is trying to deduce.

In letters sent to hundreds of doctors, health-care providers and clinics on the Eastside, Solomon Metalwala is asking whether anyone recalls treating or seeing his son during the months leading up to his Nov. 6 disappearance.

The letter is accompanied by a flier with a number of photos of Sky and his 5-year-old sister, as well as a signed form giving physicians permission to release information on the boy.

Metalwala hopes to better pinpoint the last time his son was seen. Soon after the boy was reported missing by his mother, one neighbor told police she had spotted the boy about two weeks earlier.

The boy's mother, Julia Biryukova, told police she was driving with the two children to Overlake Hospital Medical Center on Nov. 6 when the car ran out of gas in the 2600 block of 112th Avenue Northeast in Bellevue. She said she left the sleeping Sky in his car seat while she and her daughter walked for help.

When she returned, she told police, Sky was gone. Since then, police have conducted an extensive search for Sky but have turned up few clues to his whereabouts.

Police have said that Biryukova's story has serious discrepancies. For one thing, the car she was driving was found to have plenty of gas and no mechanical problems.

Biryukova has declined to speak with police despite repeated entreaties. However, she has not been named a suspect nor a person of interest in her son's disappearance.

Police spokeswoman Carla Iafrate said Monday that police continue to focus their investigation on finding the missing child. "We have no new releasable information at this time," Iafrate said.

In the meantime, Solomon Metalwala has become increasingly desperate to find his son.

Biryukova, 30, and Metalwala, 36, were involved in a bitter and contentious divorce and custody battle when the boy disappeared.

The couple's daughter, Maile Metalwala, was taken into protective custody and placed in foster care by Child Protective Services after her brother disappeared. A King County Superior Court commissioner later allowed the girl to live with Solomon Metalwala at his mother's Kirkland home.

Solomon Metalwala was named the custodial parent of both children in December, giving him legal authority to request the medical records, said his attorney, Leslie Clay Terry III.

Terry said Maile weighed only 29 pounds when she was taken into foster care and that she had gained 8 pounds by the time she moved in with her father.

As Metalwala sought to care for her, he discovered she had not been seen by her previous pediatrician or any doctor they could find.

Further, Terry said, their medical carrier has told Metalwala that there have been no claims or requests for insurance payments to health-care providers.

That got them thinking, Terry said.

According to Bellevue police, one neighbor of Biryukova's claimed to have seen both children two weeks before the boy was reported missing in November. But Terry said police have told them there have been no other corroborating sightings of both children.

Terry said that civilian investigators have told Metalwala that information taken from Biryukova's Flickr account indicate that the last posted pictures of the boy were taken at Costco on June 15.

Surveillance pictures of Biryukova that were released by police in December show the mother alone, without her children, Terry said.

"What if we've been 'shuffled' or conned," he said. "What if the boy's been missing much longer than the mother has said? Who has seen Sky and when did they see him?"

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017205343_missingboy11m.html

One of the most important parts of searching for a missing person is not letting the subject fall to the wayside. After the original story has played out and the trail runs cold, it is difficult to get tips from the public when the story gets lost in the natural changes of the news cycle.

For Kirkland resident Solomon Metalwala, the search for his missing son Sky will take a new turn Feb. 18 with a vigil for the 2-year-old boy. The event will take place at 5:30 p.m. at the Bellevue Downtown Park, 10301 N.E. Fourth St., across the street from Bellevue Square Mall.

“(We are) learning from other families who have suffered the same loss of a child or a loved one,” said Metalwala’s attorney Clay Terry in an email to the Reporter, who also said that Solomon will take part in the event. “With the assistance and balloons suggestion from Jennifer Mau, of Search and Seek, we are going to put this together and make it another event on behalf of Sky.”

The event - which is being organized by New Hampshire-based LostNMissing, Inc., Search and Seek and Terry - will have a balloon release and candlelight vigil.

“We are first going to start with balloons that will have felt-pen messages written on them and released into the sky, allowing those who wish … to leave a thought or a prayer for Sky,” said Terry, who pointed out that Valentine’s Day will mark the 100th day since Sky’s disappearance.

Search and Seek and LostNMissing, Inc. are organizations that help families of missing people search for their loved ones and keep awareness about the search.



Sky went missing Nov. 6 when his mother, Redmond resident Julia Biryukova, claims he was kidnapped from her unlocked car in the 2600 block of 112th Ave. N.E. of Bellevue.

She told police that her car ran out of gas and walked to get help with the boy’s 4-year-old sister Maile. Police stated that the car had gas and found no mechanical issues.

Biryukova claims that she was taking Sky to Overlake Hospital in Bellevue because the boy was sick. Bellevue police said that Biryukova has been cooperative but that they have not spoken face-to-face with her since the night of the disappearance.

Biryukova and Solomon Metalwala were in a bitter custody battle prior to the Sky’s disappearance.

Solomon and Terry have stated that they have doubts about the date Sky actually went missing.

“It is unfortunate that we have to use Nov. 6, 2011 as the missing date, but that is all we have since Ms. Biryukova will not step forward and tell the truth about what happened to young Sky,” said Terry.

Neither Terry, nor Solomon, have had any contact with Biryukova since the disappearance and she has still not spoken to police, according to Terry.

“Her brother, who was the one that named Sky and was his favorite uncle, has done absolutely nothing publicly except one statement in early November, in which he said his sister was devastated by the kidnapping,” said Terry. “… The whole family, and the few close friends Julia had, have been deadly silent in any effort to find Sky … These are the same people who leaped gladly to assist Julia with written denunciations of Solomon when the shared custody request of Solomon was denied.”

The community is frustrated with Biryukova's silence as well.

Desiree Clifton of Ellensburg, Wash., created an online petition posted at change.org to have the Bellevue prosecuting attorney arrest Biryukova. The petition had 135 signatures as of Friday afternoon.

The petition letter states: “Julia is directly linked to the disappearance of Sky and she is withholding critical information that can lead us to him … Arrest her and she will talk!!”

Terry’s law firm sent out 360 letters to local doctors asking if they had treated Sky, who was sick according to Biryukova, and none have seen the boy or his sister during 2011.

Maile Metalwala was taken from her mother after the incident and placed in foster care. She has since been reunited with her father and has also started school.

There have been several searches organized by Solomon, friends, family and Terry’s firm in the Puget Sound area and along the I-5 corridor during the past few months.

Police have also conducted searches of many local parks and other sites of interest. Terry said that he and Solomon have given 125 media interviews, nine of which were national.

“We want … to thank this community, the media, law enforcement, and the multiple and wonderful volunteers who have come from all walks of life to help us search for Sky,” said Terry.

Volunteers posted 3,500 posters during a period of one month in Bellevue, Redmond, Issaquah and Kirkland. Using the assistance of Search and Seek, the group has been able to put up 2,000 posters on I-5 from Seattle to Gresham, Ore.

Anyone with information on the case is urged to call the Bellevue Police tip line at 425-577-5656 or email pdtipline@bellevuewa.gov

http://www.kirklandreporter.com/news/139131834.html

SEATTLE - Four months after she reported that her little boy had
vanished from his car seat, the mother of missing toddler Sky Metalwala
once again failed to show up for a court hearing over custody of her
children.

And now the judge in the case has set a March 30
deadline for Julia Biryukova to submit a parenting plan, or else the
boy's father, Solomon Metalwala, will likely be granted full custody of
Sky - if he's ever found - along with the boy's 5-year-old sister Maile.

It
was the latest development in the strange case that first unfolded in
November, when Biryukova reported that someone had taken Sky when she
left him in the car alongside the road and walked to get gas.

Bellevue
police have questioned the mother's story from day one, after
discovering that her car hadn't actually run out of gas, as she claimed.
Ever since then, she and the boy's father had been embroiled in a
months-long custody battle, with allegations of abuse flying back and
forth.

Now Metalwala says he is afraid that if his ex-wife sees
or even talks to their daughter Maile, it could set back any chance that
the little girl will ever remember or feel safe enough to talk about
what happened to her baby brother.

"The way that Julia had treated her, I think just her presence will do the trick," Metalwala said.

"Remember, our concern is that Maile is a witness in this case," added Metalwala's attorney, Clay Terry.

The
boy's father also said he still believes little Sky is alive somewhere.
He has said it's even possible that Sky actually vanished months before
Biryukova reported him missing, and now he wonders whether the little
boy's uncle took him to the Ukraine after a visit to Washington state in
April 2011.

In the meantime, Terry said, he has confirmed that
Biryukova is still living in the Puget Sound area - but he doesn't know
exactly where.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Missing-boys-mom-a-no-show-for-custody-hearing-142094943.html

March 20, 2012

Two-year-old Sky Metalwala has been missing
for 134 days now, and even though there are no leads in his
disappearance, a judge has decided to give full custody of the boy and
his 5-year-old sister to the children’s father, Solomon Metalwala.

Bellevue
police have said the kids’ mother, Julia Biryukova, has refused to talk
to them directly about Sky’s disappearance. She originally told them
Sky disappeared from his car seat when she and her daughter left him in
her car when she ran out of gas in November.

“I think she’s a big threat to me and my family,” Solomon said of the mother of his children.

Solomon’s attorney, Clay Terry, said the judge in the case has good reason to keep Biryukova away from her daughter.

“There’s
only two witnesses: The 5-year-old daughter and the mother. They’re the
only two witnesses in this case to what may have happened to Sky,”
Terry said. “There will be no visitation with the 5-year-old daughter by
the mother until the daughter is cleared by police as no longer being a
witness in this case.”

Terry also said that on the day
Biryukova reported Sky missing, she gave up looking and fighting for
custody in her divorce with Solomon.

“If it was as simple
as the fact that she left the child in the car and the child was taken
by a stranger, you’d think the first person in line would be the mother
in efforts to try and find the child,” Terry said. “But in this case,
for the last 134 days, it’s been the father.”
Solomon said he was still confident his son will turn up.
“We’re gonna find him,” Solomon said.
http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/crime-law/solomon-metalwala-granted-full-custody-kids/nLYYY/

March 23, 2012
Solomon Metalwala and Julia Biryukova, the parents of missing 2-year-old Sky signed a divorce agreement on Monday.

Metawala was given custody of the boy’s 5-year-old sister, and Biryukova was allowed no visitation rights.

The agreement stipulates that Metawala will pay the couple’s credit
card debt of $47,000, but there will be no child support payments from
either side.

Biryukova reported on Nov. 6 that 2-year-old Sky disappeared after
she ran out of gas in Bellevue. A massive search failed to turn up any
sign of him.
http://www.bellevuereporter.com/news/143992006.html

Sunday marks the six-month anniversary of Sky Metalwala's disappearance.

The 2-year-old vanished from Bellevue last November when
his mother, Julia Biryukova, says she left him alone in her car
while she walked to get gas. Police later determined there
were about two gallons of gas still left in the car.

The boy's father, Solomon Metalwala, is still holding on to hope that he's alive.

"He very strongly believes his son is alive. I think, to
tell you the truth, it's keeping him going," Solomon's
attorney, Clay Terry, told 97.3 KIRO FM's Ron and Don Show.

There will be a prayer service for Sky Sunday night (8-9pm) at
Heritage park in Kirkland.

Meanwhile, the Bellevue Police Department said Thursday
that the Metalwala case is still a "very active open missing child case."

"We all hope for his safe return," Police Spokeswoman Carla Iafrate said via email.

Solomon Metalwala and Julia Biryukova have divorced and
Solomon has full custody of Sky's 5-year-old sister,
Mailie. Terry said Mailie is thriving in her new
environment. She's in school, she's eating well, and counselors continue to work with her.

"We're hoping like Elizabeth Smart's younger sister...where
they start to remember things and draw pictures. They're
kind of hoping that this will happen with Mailie, but it
has not happened yet," said Terry.

Meanwhile, Biryukova remains mum about the case. In fact,
she failed to appear at a March custody hearing.

"She hasn't been to any of the court appearances, she
won't answer any questions, she won't talk to police, she
won't talk to any of the investigators with any of the
agencies that have been involved."

Terry said Biryukova has not fled the country and she
remains in Redmond. Police have assured him that they
can't find any evidence Sky was taken to the Ukraine.

http://mynorthwest.com/108/671650/Father-of-missing-Sky-Metalwala-is-hopeful-six-months-later

Lawyer for Sky Metalwala’s father says it’s time mother’s family came forward

Posted: 5:52 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012

BELLEVUE, Wash. — An attorney representing the father of missing toddler Sky Metalwala said at a news conference Wednesday that it was time that the family of the boy’s mother came forward.

Clay Terry, the lawyer for Sky’s father, Solomon Metalwala, said he wanted to release what he called “interesting information” but because the investigation was ongoing, police preferred he not release any sensitive details.

Terry said that the mother, brother and two close friends of the boy’s mother, Julia Biryukova, seem to be protecting Biryukova, and while those people have been interviewed by the police, they haven’t spoken to publicly or been as forthcoming as the boy’s father has.

While police won’t say what the friends and family of Biryukova said during the police interviews, Terry described they and the boy’s mother as “conspicuously absent” and found it unusual that “they wouldn’t come forward and help the little boy they said they love.”

Terry and Solomon Metalwala expressed frustration that people who are closest to Biryukova haven’t helped the Solomon Metalwala’s family in their own investigation as to what happened to the boy.

“Every effort we’ve made, they’re conspicuously absent and we don’t know why and we’re asking them to come forward,” said Terry.

Terry said he believed that Biryukova, her friends and family have more information than what they have given.

Police from Kirkland, Bellevue and Redmond continue to investigate the case and Terry said they were hopeful that there had been progress.

He said tips were still coming in on the case but not as many as when the boy was first reported missing on Nov. 6 by Biryukova.

Biryukova told police she, her 2-year-old son and her 4-year-old daughter ran out of gas in Bellevue.

Biryukova said she and her daughter left the car locked, with 2-year-old Sky Metalwala sleeping inside.

When they returned about an hour later, the boy was gone, Biryukova said.

Officers later found that there were 2.2 gallons of gas in Biryukova's car and it had no mechanical problems.

Investigators learned that the child had not been seen by anyone for about two weeks.

Police said foul play was suspected in the case, but there were no suspects.

Police said that Biryukova has cooperated with authorities, but has declined to take a polygraph test and is speaking to authorities only through her lawyers.

Anyone with any information regarding the disappearance of Sky Metalwala should contact Bellevue police at 425-452-2564 or pdtipline@bellevuewa.gov.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/lawyer-sky-metalwalas-father-says-its-time-mothers/nR9MJ/